


The Charming Little Swan's First Christmas

by loisselina (LoisSelina)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Charming Family Feels, Gen, Gift Fic, Grandma Snow, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Secret Santa, Swan Believer, The Charming Family, charming family - Freeform, gift shopping, grandma regina, mama Snow, the charmings - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 20:38:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13279443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoisSelina/pseuds/loisselina
Summary: Snow and Henry go gift shopping for little Emma and Henry remembers a similar trip.





	The Charming Little Swan's First Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CapricornHunter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CapricornHunter/gifts).



> I’m sorry this is so late, but for ouathunter (capricornhunter) for the Charming Family Secret Santa!

Henry hadn’t been avoiding his biological mother’s family, he often saw his grandmother at his school, he and his grandfather tried to go riding at least once a month, though now it was winter and snow was thick on the ground it was a lot harder to ride the horses so most of their time together was quickly mucking out and taking care of their horses together before heading to the arcade or grabbing food in Storybrooke or a town nearby. He even saw Neal, often when Snow went to visit Belle with Neal in tow….. But Henry had kind of been avoiding spending time with Emma, since she had deaged like Gideon after the battle, at least on his own, he didn’t walk away from the three year old if he saw her and her parents out and about but he had mastered being able to swerve spending time with Emma alone. But he had been trying, it was the spirit of the season after all, he hadn’t been so closed off when Emma tried to talk to him. And part of the trying was to get her an extra special Christmas present, his name would be on the one to Emma Regina had picked out too, but he wanted something just from him.

The problem was he had no idea what to get her. He thought about all the different toys he had seen advertised, the ones she already had, the ones she would be receiving from ‘Santa’, he had no idea what to get her. So, he asked his grandmother, Snow, to go shopping with him.

They met after school one day Snow grinned at her grandson as he climbed into her car, she hadn’t met him at his last classroom of the day as she didn’t want to embarrass him, and she knew full well how teenagers were only too well. He climbed in and the pair set off. They started to catch up then when they crossed over the town line talk turned to the purpose of their journey. “So, do you have any thoughts about what you want to give Emmy?” Snow asked carefully. It was impossible to be able to exactly know how he felt with his mom gone… well, not really gone, she was still there, but she didn’t know who he was… she suspected it was like having a parent die, and then having a constant reminder of their death around. The fact that he was trying so hard was really a testament to his true character.

“I’m not sure… something special.” Henry let his head fall back against the headrest. His mind went back to years before, when he was ten, and was buying Emma her first Christmas present from him.

* * *

 

_Henry had made sure that Emma was working as he climbed the steps to the loft, he had come after his appointment with Archie, Regina was busy and had given him money for the arcade but he had another plan for it. He knocked on the green door and Mary Margaret opened it looking very surprised to find Henry there. “I need your help.” He said before she had a chance to speak._

_“Henry, what’s wrong? What happened? Are you hurt?” She loved all of her students, but Henry even more so and not just because he was the biological son of her roommate, sometimes when she was particularly tired she wondered if Henry was right… but it was impossible._

_“It’s nearly Christmas.” He stated walking into the loft, he grinned as he saw that Emma left her shoes and clothes around the place just like he did, he watched Mary Margaret pick up Emma’s scarf and a pair of shoes and move them to their proper place rolling her eyes good naturedly._

_Mary Margaret hung up Emma’s red scarf, with a small fond smile at Emma’s teenager like nature, and froze in confusion. “It is.” She confirmed not sure what to say, she looked Henry over, he looked healthy and he clearly wasn’t panicked so no one else was hurt either. “What’s wrong Henry? Emma’s not here, but I can help you if you need anything.”_

_“I need your help.” Henry asked, he had seen how carefully she had hung up Emma’s scarf, exactly how Regina had with his own clothes. In a mothering way. He knew he was right. “I want to get Emma a Christmas present, but I’m not sure what to get her… she’s already got me walkie talkies, and she says she has something else for me too, I want to get her something really special.”_

_“Aw, Henry.” Her heart filled up with love. “I’m sure anything you get her will be really special.”_

_A flicker of a smile appeared on his face. “I know…. But… Please? I really want it to be special and you know her better than anyone.” He watched her face change and he knew that he had got her. “I have my own money, I’ve saved up my allowance. Please?”_

_Mary Margaret saw the smile he was giving her and knew it was a copy of Emma’s, but she couldn’t help but there was someone else who that smile belonged to. She felt an ache in her heart which she couldn’t explain. “I had some errands I had to run anyway, we may as well go together.”_

_Soon enough the pair were entering Gold’s shop._

_Gold saw the schoolteacher and her student entering his pawnshop and he saw there was a tiny change in the posture of the former bandit. Courage, he realised. “Snow.”_

_Mary Margaret’s head snapped towards him. “Pardon?”_

_Gold let out a small chuckle. She wasn’t ready, not yet, neither was Miss Swan, so he decided he may as well get his fun out of his little jokes while he had the time. “Snow. It looks like snow might be falling soon.”_

_“Maybe.” She said but her voice was faraway. She glanced around the entrance of the shop. A mobile hanging down from the ceiling sparkled in the sun, the delicate glass unicorn figures caught her attention. She took a step towards it with her hand slowly raising her hand out towards it._

_Henry’s eyebrows tugged together and his head tilted to the side as he looked at the pawnbroker, he wasn’t sure who he was yet, but he knew he was extremely powerful, he wasn’t sure if he was good or not. But something told the boy that Gold was out for himself. He took his teacher’s hand and pulled her to scour the rest of the shop for something for his mother._

_Half an hour later they walked up to the counter, Mary Margaret had found a very warm and large woollen blanket, she knew that Emma had her special baby blanket from her parents but it was not big enough to keep her warm, she always seemed so cold so this seemed perfect for her. A huge, warm, and soft cream woollen blanket which would be ideal for her roommate. She would get her some more bits, of course, she was important to her… she was her roommate after all._

_But Henry’s hands were empty and stuffed in his pockets._

_“Did you find everything you needed?” Gold asked wrapping the blanket up carefully in tissue paper. He avoided looking at the disappointed look on Henry’s face, it reminded him of another little boy, one who he had disappointed one too many times. Though he didn’t know why Henry looked so like Bae, the truth didn’t even cross his mind, he just put it down to remembering Bae at that age._

_“I can’t find anything right for my mom.”_

_“Mayor Mills?” He noticed Henry’s face change. “Ah, Miss Swan.”  Perhaps he was growing soft in his old age, or this was a once in a blue moon moment, or maybe it was the Christmas spirit infecting him. He knew he had the perfect item… and for once he decided not to charge for it. “I think I have something you might be interested in. He walked through to the back and came back a minute later with a silver locket in hand. He held it out to Henry._

_Henry reached his hand out and gently stroked the front of the oval locket. The gold silhouette of a swan inlaid into the silver. It looked very old, but was shiny new, and much more expensive than the thirty dollars Henry had saved up. “I can’t-“ Henry pulled his hand back but didn’t finish his sentence._

_“How much do you have?”_

_Henry shrugged his shoulders half-heartedly. “Thirty dollars. It’s okay, I already know it’s not enough.”_

_Gold paused. “You’re in luck, Mr Mills, today is a one day sale, that’s only thirty dollars.”_

_Mary Margaret’s brow furrowed. It was terribly unlike her landlord to be so kind… it restored a little bit of hope in her mind. She fished out her purse and took twenty dollars from it, she passed it to him, she didn’t want him to have to use all of his money on one present. “Merry Christmas, Henry… Though I do expect you to do well on your math homework.”_

_Henry hesitated, he wanted to do this by himself… but this was his grandmother…. Even if she didn’t know who he was, not really, so he accepted it with a grin. “I’ll try my best.” He promised handing the notes over to Gold._

_Henry and Emma met a few days before Christmas, while Regina was at a town meeting, and Mary Margaret was otherwise busy. It was clear that Emma didn’t understand Christmas, not properly in the way a person used to celebrating it would, but she was trying for Mary Margaret and for him. The loft was decorated, a mismatch of decorations Henry knew she had accumulated over twenty-eight years, though she had no idea where they had all come from._

_Henry and Emma sat at the dining table, Henry had opened his gift first, a new game boy and games, Emma was obviously trying to make up for missing out on so much of his life… Just as Mary Margaret was unknowingly doing with her roommate-daughter. Henry felt butterflies swirl in his stomach as he handed the small square box shaped parcel to her, he was terrified she wouldn’t want it, maybe he should have chosen something else._

_Emma unwrapped the wrapping paper carefully, as though the paper was a delicate gift, not the thing inside of it. She had told Henry he didn’t have to bother about getting her a present, but he had insisted, he told her that it was a very important part of Christmas so she daren’t argue. She opened up the white box and gasped when she saw what was displayed inside. “Oh Henry.” She carefully pulled it out to look at it closer. “You didn’t have to get me anything, this is probably really expensive.”_

_“Don’t worry, it was on sale.” He said nonchalantly, sharing a cheeky grin with her, he was happy to receive one in return. “It’s a locket, I already put a couple of pictures in there, you can change them if you like.”_

_Emma brushed her finger against the golden swan before prying it open. On the right side of the locket was a recent picture of Henry and Emma together, while on the other side was a picture of Henry when he was a baby, she had barely even glanced at him when he was a baby in real life because she knew that if she had seen him she wouldn’t have been able to let him go. Her finger shakily brushed against the picture before she looked up, bleary eyed, at her son._

_“Is it… is it okay?”_

_Emma wrapped her arms around him. “It’s more than okay, it’s perfect, kid.”_

 

* * *

 

By the time they got to the store, Henry had a vague idea about what to get little Emma for her Christmas present, but he still had to find something perfect for her. He chuckled as he grabbed a cart and his grandmother read off a text from David, telling them that he was about to try and bake with the kids, according to David he was going to be able to do it without the kids getting covered in cake mix.

“He has no chance.”

“Oh, I know.” Snow said fondly. “But he likes to remain oblivious.” They started to walk around the store, Snow put things from the shelves into the cart, smaller toys she knew that the kids would love to go along with their big Christmas presents. “It seems like only yesterday that it was you David was cooking with, back at the loft.”

“I think we ate more than we baked.” Henry remembered. The more he remembered his time with Emma’s side of his family the more that he missed hanging out with them. His mother was gone, but he could have a new cousin or uncle-like relationship with her, they were still family and always would be.

In the end, Henry managed to find a few perfect gifts for Emma, or he hoped that they’d be perfect, his grandmother was sure she’d love them but she could just be saying that for his sake. They decided to find a coffee shop, both enjoying the time they got to spend together, and Henry wanted to avoid his homework while Snow wanted to avoid the marking she had from school.

* * *

 

Henry and Regina went round to the Charmings’ house on Christmas evening, after having a relaxed day in each other’s company, Henry had taught Regina how to play some games on his Xbox. When Henry unwrapped his presents from his grandparents he found that he had a few more new games along with other knickknacks.

Henry waited until the excited present giving had died down a little, he went up to Emma who was quietly playing with a gift bag in his hand. “Hey, Em.”

She looked up at Henry with a small smile as he crouched down beside her. “Look, it’s a zoo.” She told him showing him the playset Regina had given her.

“Woah, that is cool, I like the lions best.” He told her remembering going to the zoo with her in his fake memories. “I have another present for you, just from me.”

“Really?” Emma asked with a huge smile which faltered for a half second. “I don’t have any more to give you.”

Henry chuckled, and grinned, sitting down properly beside her. “That’s okay, you don’t have to get me another present, I love the games you and Neal got me.” He heard his uncle coo as though in reply. “Here there’s present in here for you.”

Emma grinned and reached inside pulling out a chocolate lolly and some chocolate coins. Next, she pulled out an actual present out. She unwrapped the messily wrapped present. “Duckies!”

Henry nodded with a smile at how excited she was. “Yeah, they go into your bath and they light up changing colour.”

Emma’s face filled with wonder. “Bath time now!?” She asked looking back at her parents who were cuddled up on the couch.

“Tomorrow, kiddo, looks like Henry has a couple more presents for you in that bag.”

Emma knelt up and pulled another present out. She quickly tore off the paper and pulled out a book. “Another ducky.” Emma told Henry happily.

“That’s a swan.” Henry told her gently. “It’s called ‘The Ugly Duckling and other stories’, grams- your mommy told me how much you love stories, so there’s loads of stories in here. I love stories too.”

“Can you read them.” Emma asked him as she climbed onto his lap. “Please?”

Henry halted but he quickly relaxed and cuddled her closer to him. “Of course, …There’s just one more present in there you have to open first.” He pulled out the last large present from the gift bag and placed it on Emma’s lap.

Emma quickly tore the paper off of the present and gasped, she cuddled it close to her chest. “Duckies! “

“Swans, baby.” Snow told her gently, she shared a smile with Henry, he had told her about his talk with August about Emma’s past and how Emma got the last name swan. It had made the swan on the locket he had got Emma when he was ten, he wanted to get her swan themed present again, she was no longer swan in name, but the meaning of it – the power of belief, belief in herself, and in others.

“Mommy swan, daddy swan... grey ducky.”

“That’s what baby swans look like.” He told her. “Before they magically turn into swans… there’s a story about it in your new book, do you want me to read it to you?”

Their Christmas evening was spent cuddled up reading stories together, even once Emma fell asleep on his lap, Henry was reluctant to let her go. Now he accepted the new Emma he didn’t want to be away from her again. With Emma asleep he listened to his mother and grandparents telling stories, and he told some of his own, the perfect end to a perfect Christmas.

 


End file.
